Best Library Organizations: Twitter Analysis

For this semi-scientific analysis I looked at 18 library membership organizations, including state and national organizations.  I did not include individual libraries or state libraries.  I did include sub-groups and divisions.  The list of organizations was chosen more or less at random and is biased towards organizations that support New England libraries.  It is by no measure a complete list, so feel free to suggest one’s that I missed.

I utilized seven elements to compare the organizations.  For each element, the organization received one point if the information met the criteria outlined below, and zero points if it did not.  A higher rating is equated with a higher score.  You can use this method for a quick check of your organization’s Twitter presence.

Profile Completeness

Having a complete profile (Location, Web, Bio) is important for two reasons.  One, the text in these fields in keyword searchable, so it will help people find you if the information is complete and relevant.  Two, people use the profile information as a contextual way of weeding out fake or disinterested tweeters.  Including the name of the person responsible for tweeting in the Bio is important because it adds a human element to the account, and it lets people know who to contact if they need further assistance.

• Location – one point if field contained text, zero points if it did not
  
• Web – one point if field contained text, zero points if it did not
• Bio – one point if field contained text, zero points if it did not
• Name of tweeter – one point if the name of the person responsible for the tweets was included in the Bio, zero points if it wasn’t mentioned

Follow/Follower Ratio

To determine this number, I divided the number of people that the organization was following, by the number of people following the organization.  This measure is important, because it gives a general sense of an organization’s level of interest in engaging with their followers.  Furthermore, you can only Direct Message (DM) people who follow you.  Therefore, any person not followed by these organizations would be unable to send them a DM if they needed to have a private conversation. 

• one point if the ratio was 0.5 or above

ReTweet

This element also speaks to an organization’s willingness or desire to engage with their community.  Is the organization paying attention to Twitter and passing along interesting or useful tweets to their followers?

• one point if the organization had retweeted something in their first page of tweets

@reply

Another element that speaks to community engagement.  Is the organization actively and publicly communicating with people on Twitter?

• one point if the organization had @replied in their first page of tweets

And the winners are . . .

7 Points

• No organization received seven points.

6 Points

• http://twitter.com/CalLibAssoc
• http://twitter.com/ALA_TechSource
• http://twitter.com/slait
• http://twitter.com/AtYourLibrary

5 Points

• http://twitter.com/acrl_nec
• http://twitter.com/ala_lita
• http://twitter.com/nahsl_mla
• http://twitter.com/nyla_1890
• http://twitter.com/ala_rusa
• http://twitter.com/mainelibassoc

4 Points

• http://twitter.com/alalibrary
• http://twitter.com/ala_acrl

3 Points or less

• http://twitter.com/slaboston
• http://twitter.com/slahq
• http://twitter.com/alcts
• http://twitter.com/llama_ala
• http://twitter.com/nhlibrarians
• http://twitter.com/aasl

What do you think about library groups on Twitter?  Are there other organizations that I should include in my analysis?  How is your organization doing on Twitter?